'07 Wrap Up

After a hearty breakfast at one of Nashville's finest restaurants, the Pancake Pantry, Austin, Claire, and Paul made their way over to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for the final event of Rally Across America 2007. There were more kids, including one of last year's Rally kids (Anthony), more goody bags, more whale hats, more songs and more families in for treatments. Ashley, the child life specialist, graciously showed us around as we made our visits. We all checked in at Austin's house after the event and cleaned up the car, organized the remaining Rally materials, and tied up any other loose ends we could find. Austin, Claire and Austin's mother drove to Chattanooga, where Austin's mother's car was parked. They even had all the loose change that was donated to Rally counted at First Tennessee Bank in Chattanooga, and then Claire and Austin made their way back to Nashville.

Rally Across America 2007 has been an amazing experience. At this moment in time we have raised almost $37,000 (we are STILL accepting donations for RAA 2007 through the end of this month), biked over 1,500 miles as a team, gave out over 200 goody bags, and rode in honor of 6 very special Rally Kids. Unfortunately this blog can only communicate a fraction of the experiences we have all had as a team. The amount of planning, riding and "rallying" has been overwhelming, but every minute has been worth it. The "success" of the trip will be measured with each incremental success that comes from newer and better treatments for pediatric cancer victims - successes that would not have otherwise been possible without the financial push from the Rally Foundation. We are all so proud and honored to have been at the forefront of such a wonderful and collective effort, and we thank everyone who has been and continues to be involved in the fight against pediatric cancer.

~ Rally Across America 2007 team members

(peace)